Boat crashes on break wall in Lorain

LORAIN — No one was seriously injured when a pleasure boat crashed onto the break wall off of Harmon's Beach overnight.

The boat, a 25-foot Starcraft, remained on the break wall this morning. It crashed about 2 a.m., according to Coast Guard Seaman Jamison Franzen.

Coast Guard Chief Andrew Coppa said both people on board — a male in his 50s and a woman in her late 20s — were checked out by paramedics but didn't need to be taken to the hospital.

Franzen said the boat was entering the Lorain harbor from the west. Coppa said he believed it had come from the Beaver Creek area.

He attributed the crash to "a lack of knowledge of the area." The people on the boat were from the Akron area, he said.

They said they were attempting to enter the Lorain harbor at 10 knots (approximately 11 1/2 miles per hour), according to Coppa, but he said that speed had not been confirmed.

Franzen said visibility would have been low at 2 a.m., but he didn't have further specifics on what might have cause the boat to run into the break wall.

Coppa said the owner of the boat was on board but was not the one operating the boat.

Coppa said that while the boat ran up on the breakwall at about 2 a.m., the Coast Guard was not notified until about 6 a.m. He said those on board called family members and, eventually, a private tow company. It was the tow company that notified authorities, he said.

Coppa said he hopes other boaters can learn a lesson from this.

"This time of year there's a lot of possibility of being in areas you're not familiar with," Coppa said. "Buy a chart, and, if you get in trouble, call the Coast Guard."